


Dinner Disaster

by hybryd0



Series: December Fic Challenge [8]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, kinda pre-slash for the nessie, leans more towards nouiam friendship fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 06:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2762681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hybryd0/pseuds/hybryd0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: ruining the holiday dinner</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dinner Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing Bressie, please be gentle.

_srryyyy bro got a calld in. cant make dinner. lou 2 :((((((_

Niall sighs and tosses his phone across the couch. He’s already put the shepherd’s pie in the oven to cook. He supposes he should have expected it. So close to the holidays all the firefighters and EMTs are on call 24/7. As much as he respects them and their professions, respect being an understatement, it’s just a bummer because they were the last two who were going to be able to make it to Christmas Eve dinner with him since Zayn and Harry already had plans to be home.

He briefly entertains the idea of seeing if the fit bloke from downstairs wants to join him, but decides it might be a little weird since they’ve barely even spoken since Niall moved in.

Sometime after turning on the telly he must fall asleep because he’s brought awake to the screaming of his smoke detector. His heart thunders to a gallop as he takes in the smoke billowing out of his kitchen and the flickers of fire that accompany it. For several seconds too long all he can do is stare in horror at what’s happening, until he starts choking on smoke and that’s when his brain finally catches up.

“Oh fuck, _oh fuck_ ,” Niall swears furiously as he rushes for the front door, grabbing his guitar and whatever small items he can along the way.

He can hear every smoke detector in the building going off, since they’re all connected to each other. Most of the people in his building are gone for the holidays, but there are still some residents who are fleeing along with him. His stomach twists with the guilt of knowing he’s probably just ruined Christmas Eve for them.

By the time they get outside a fire truck as already arrived and the firefighters are heading inside as everyone else is coming out. Niall stares numbly up at where smoke is pouring out of his apartment, wonders in a distant way if he’s really about to lose everything he owns save for the few things he managed to grab on his way out and the clothes on his back. He can’t even process the thought.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Niall turns his head and blinks up at the speaker. It’s the fit bloke he’d thought about inviting to dinner earlier.

“That your place?”

Niall nods slowly.

“Niall!” Suddenly Louis is in front of him, a frantic look on his face. “The hell, Niall? This is a pretty drastic way to get me and Liam to your place.”

“I think he’s in shock, mate,” Fit bloke from downstairs says.

The next thing Niall is aware of is sitting on the curb with Louis kneeling in front of him, shining a light into his eyes. There’s a jacket draped over his shoulders and when he looks up he can see Liam standing behind Louis talking to the fit bloke from downstairs.

“Back with us then?”

Niall looks back at Louis. “I think so.”

“Don’t ever do anything like that to me again,” Louis says fiercely, but his eyes a bright with a kind of fear Niall’s never seen before and all he can think to do is reach forward and drag Louis into a hug.

“Sorry, Lou,” he says softly.

Louis hugs his tightly for several long minutes before he pulls away and tries to compose himself again. Niall can’t even manage that. There’s a big ball of emotions swelling in his chest, but before it can explode and consume him, Liam is there kneeling beside Louis, his hand on Niall’s knee.

“I’m gonna assume Lou already told you off for scaring us like that, so I’ll skip that for now,” Liam says, giving Niall’s knee a squeeze. “We managed to keep the fire from spreading too far out of the kitchen, but the damage in there is extensive.”

“But the rest of the flat is okay?” Niall asks hopefully, but disbelieving that anything could have survived the fire he’d seen in his kitchen.

“There might be some smoke damage, but your flat survived.”

“You’re staying with us though,” Louis says and Liam nods in agreement. “Go and get whatever you need out of there and then head over to our place.”

Liam and Louis stick around for as long as they can after that, but eventually they have to go back to work. Niall is left sitting alone on the curb, or at least he thinks he’s alone until he hears a throat clearing. Looking up he sees fit bloke from downstairs standing there looking a little sheepish, but determined too.

“I know we’ve never really spoke, but, since your dinner literally went up in smoke, would you like to join me?”

“Really?” Niall asks, part hopefully and part in mild disbelief.

The other man nods, a smile spreading across his handsome face making Niall’s heart skip a beat. “Better than both of us spending it alone, yeah? I reckon we’ll have to reheat it all at this point.”

“Better than charbroiled shepherd’s pie,” Niall says, surprising himself by being able to laugh about it.

“Shepherd’s pie for Christmas Eve dinner? Oh yeah, I’m Bressie, by the way.”

“Niall, though I reckon you already know that from Louis shouting at me,” Niall replies, taking the hand Bressie offers him. “We picked shepherd’s pie ‘cause it was cheaper in the long run than doing a big dinner.”

“Fair enough,” Bressie says easily as they head back into the building. “Why don’t you go pack whatever you need to and I’ll start reheating dinner.”

Niall agrees and they start to parts ways, but he only gets two steps up before he stops. “Hey, Bressie?”

Bressie stops with his key in the door to his flat. “Yeah, mate?”

“Thanks.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://multishippinfool.tumblr.com) :)


End file.
